***Here's an obit for an unfortunate man who was a journalist for 25 years. What's missing?***<p>Jim De Graci, Sun-Sentinel journalist, dead at 54
By Jonathon King
Staff Writer<p>August 15, 2002<p>He was a big man. He had to be, his friends say, to contain the size of his heart.<p>Jim De Graci held his 6-foot, 4-inch height with dignity and his 300 pounds with an uncommon gentility. He was a man who loved the Bible and a good mystery, a friend who was intensely loyal and deeply selfless, a fighter, a teacher, a student of life and even more, of people.<p>A journalist at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel for nearly 25 years, Mr. De Graci died Wednesday morning after a long bout with cancer. He was 54.<p>Born in the Bronx, N.Y., he went to Catholic schools and, after graduating with honors, moved to Baltimore, where he took a newspaper job with the Baltimore Sun. When he saw the draft board coming in 1966, he enlisted in the Army and served in Vietnam, writing for and editing Green Beret Magazine. He shipped home dozens of his photos, mostly of the Vietnamese children and families he'd come to adore.<p>Back home he went to the University of Utah and earned degrees in both journalism and urban studies and took on an almost natural commitment to the Special Olympics.<p>"That was Jim. He was such a generous and decent guy, it was really impossible not to like him, and believe me, I tried," said John Christie, a former Sun-Sentinel editor and now president of Central Maine Newspapers.<p>"At one point in our careers, we were rivals for the same job. He got it. But because we were waiting for a new building, we had to share an office. Here I am sitting with a guy who beat me for a job I really wanted, but his personality just overwhelmed me. We ended up becoming great, great friends."<p>A sports fanatic who held a brilliant interest in all athletics, Mr. De Graci coached soccer and then basketball in leagues in Coral Springs and Sunrise. He worked tirelessly at Coral Baptist Church, where the new building fund "was his baby," said his wife, Judy. "He so much wanted to see that come to reality."<p>In the final months of his nearly two-year battle against cancer, Mr. De Graci still managed to give a sermon to a Bible club, befriend a teenager who was going through chemotherapy, and every time his longtime co-workers came to call his first words were "How are you doing?" And he meant it.<p>"It was never about him. It was always about somebody else. He was always thinking about other people," said Sun-Sentinel editor Earl Maucker. "The field of journalism has lost a true hero today, a man dedicated to his principles and his friends. His spirit will be deeply missed."<p>Mr. De Graci is survived ....

Jim hired me in 1984; he was honest when some in management around him weren't. In 1989, he was league MVP of our championship softball team.<p>None of this, or anything in the obit since possibly his work for Green Beret Magazine in Vietnam, would lead you to believe he was a journalist.<p>Jim was a newspaperman who could write, shoot photos, edit, and make sure others did the same. You'll have to trust me on this, I guess, because it's not in the obit.<p>The gist of the obit could have been written months ago. I wonder when it was edited.<p>
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica ,sans-serif">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by blanp:
***Here's an obit for an unfortunate man who was a journalist for 25 years. What's missing?***<p>Jim De Graci, Sun-Sentinel journalist, dead at 54
By Jonathon King
Staff Writer<p>August 15, 2002<p>He was a big man. He had to be, his friends say, to contain the size of his heart.<p>Jim De Graci held his 6-foot, 4-inch height with dignity and his 300 pounds with an uncommon gentility. He was a man who loved the Bible and a good mystery, a friend who was intensely loyal and deeply selfless, a fighter, a teacher, a student of life and even more, of people.<p>A journalist at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel for nearly 25 years, Mr. De Graci died Wednesday morning after a long bout with cancer. He was 54.<p>Born in the Bronx, N.Y., he went to Catholic schools and, after graduating with honors, moved to Baltimore, where he took a newspaper job with the Baltimore Sun. When he saw the draft board coming in 1966, he enlisted in the Army and served in Vietnam, writing for and editing Green Beret Magazine. He shipped home dozens of his photos, mostly of the Vietnamese children and families he'd come to adore.<p>Back home he went to the University of Utah and earned degrees in both journalism and urban studies and took on an almost natural commitment to the Special Olympics.<p>"That was Jim. He was such a generous and decent guy, it was really impossible not to like him, and believe me, I tried," said John Christie, a former Sun-Sentinel editor and now president of Central Maine Newspapers.<p>"At one point in our careers, we were rivals for the same job. He got it. But because we were waiting for a new building, we had to share an office. Here I am sitting with a guy who beat me for a job I really wanted, but his personality just overwhelmed me. We ended up becoming great, great friends."<p>A sports fanatic who held a brilliant interest in all athletics, Mr. De Graci coached soccer and then basketball in leagues in Coral Springs and Sunrise. He worked tirelessly at Coral Baptist Church, where the new building fund "was his baby," said his wife, Judy. "He so much wanted to see that come to reality."<p>In the final months of his nearly two-year battle against cancer, Mr. De Graci still managed to give a sermon to a Bible club, befriend a teenager who was going through chemotherapy, and every time his longtime co-workers came to call his first words were "How are you doing?" And he meant it.<p>"It was never about him. It was always about somebody else. He was always thinking about other people," said Sun-Sentinel editor Earl Maucker. "The field of journalism has lost a true hero today, a man dedicated to his principles and his friends. His spirit will be deeply missed."<p>Mr. De Graci is survived ....<hr></blockquote>